This is a disc of Christmas music by Marc-Antoine Charpentier
(1643-1704), all the works written during the 1690s possibly for performance
at the Jesuit church of Saint-Louis where the composer was Master of
the Music. The wide variety of mood, colour and style underlines the
extraordinary versatility and originality of this composer, upon whom
Carissimi was the strongest influence during his student days in Rome
in the 1660s. He was highly prolific (there are no less than 35 works
in the oratorio style) and wrote a great deal of both moving and dramatic
music. In Nativitatem Domini Canticum relates the Christmas story
with instrumental interludes of delicious refinement and includes some
exceptionally beautiful music for the singers and players. There are
also three instrumental arrangements of carols, called Noëls
sur les instruments, scattered about the work (and there is also
one in the Messe de Minuit), which were more common in organ
music of the period. The Messe (for four vocal parts, flutes
and violins) has an unusual compositional structure, using eleven of
these so-called carol melodies which are adapted to the liturgical text
and result in a unique mix of the sacred and secular.

Much depends upon the characterisation of the figures
who feature in the narrative of the Christmas story, such as the heavenly
choir or the angel addressing the shepherds, producing what is effectively
operatic treatment. The text, drawn from the Scriptures, was derived
from several sources producing a patchwork quilt of narrative; the Gospels,
Psalms and the Prophet Isaiah being the principal ones. Even though
the carols, relatively faithful in metre, rhythm and melody to their
original form, may be unfamiliar to many of us, they remain catchily
tuneful and clearly defined in what often becomes a fairly complex contrapuntal
structure surrounding them.

Under the expert direction of William Christie and
his Les Arts Florissants, now celebrating 21 years since their founding,
the performances here are in the safest of hands. Pitch is low (A=392
compared to the modern day A=442), the orchestra of 27, the chorus of
26, and the 10 solo singers (who come from within the choir) perform
with refinement and sophistication, with a convincingly communicative
sense of the musicís unique style. This is a joyful celebration of Christmas
and will make an ideal present for the coming festivities.

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